The City of Colorado Springs is asking residents to share their experiences in the local housing market through an online survey.
The survey asks respondents to share information about the cost and condition of their home, and any challenges they faced in the process of finding a place to live. Anyone can participate, but the city is particularly interested in hearing from people who have looked for housing in the last two years.
“Obviously we know affordability is an issue,” said Catherine Duarte, an analyst in the city’s Community Development Division. “What we’re trying to get at with this survey is just to get a little more detail behind the process of househunting.”
The survey is part of a broader effort to create more affordable housing in the city, where half of renters and a quarter of homeowners are considered “cost-burdened.” That means they pay more than 30 percent of their gross monthly income toward housing. Duarte explained that the survey will help the city better understand how best to meet the housing needs of Colorado Springs residents.
“It’s really getting a deeper glimpse into people’s preferences, their perceptions, their experiences. And knowing that will help us figure out what tools we can use, so we can appropriately match a solution to the problem,” she said.
In his State of the City address earlier this year, Colorado Springs mayor John Suthers announced a goal to “build, preserve and create opportunities to purchase an average of 1,000 affordable [housing] units per year over the next five years.” Duarte said the city hopes to release a plan later this year aimed at meeting that objective.
